Inspired Moments

Friday, March 25, 2011

Posted by Jessica P., district manager

Moments. They are powerful.

We work to create inspired moments every day in our stores. When we get these moments right, they create ripples that reach far beyond our walls. Those moments are not just meant to happen in our stores, they are meant to happen in our neighborhoods too.

It’s my community service story. It’s about creating that moment.

And I’ve learned time and time again that when I work hard to create that moment for others, the most impactful moment is the one I experience myself. The moment I am given when I choose to give. The moment when I realize the world is bigger than just my world. The moment I realize I have the power to make a difference in that world. The moment that I really experience life. Experience acceptance. Experience humanity.

And when I experience that moment, it creates momentum – a momentum that is difficult to describe and even more difficult to extinguish.

I would have never known the power of these moments if I had not been invited to be part of one. A passionate Starbucks store manager named Yuli influenced me and her peers to wake up early on our day off to serve. We drove across Los Angeles to an overgrown garden at Crenshaw High School. We worked. We worked hard. We experienced a moment. A moment that still inspires me to this day. A moment that created a team, a team of leaders dedicated to each other and to being a positive force for action in our neighborhood.

Since that day the team has also cleared out that overgrown garden at Crenshaw High School. We also cleared the alleys by Jefferson High School. We painted a mural on a bare wall at Edison Middle School. We’ve walked for cancer, AIDS and water. We’ve planted trees and painted lifeguard towers.

We created moments. Moments for our neighborhood that inspired optimism. Moments that inspired growth. Moments for me that inspired change and made a difference in my life.

So here’s to you, team.

Thank you for inviting me into that moment. Thank you for making a difference in our communities and in my life. As a team we set out to serve our neighborhood, and now we see that our neighborhood has served us, inspired us and changed us.

These moments must be shared, and we desire the globe to experience them with us in April.

My team and I are going back to Crenshaw High School on April 9. If you live in Southern California, join us. We will show you that garden where it started for us. We invite you to have a moment. An inspired moment.